Outsmarted by a Smart House

I, Gianna Johnston, am born into a family of prodigies.

My dad, Henry Johnston, is a computer science professor from Hafford University. My mom, Naomi Liddell, is a medical professor at Starvard University. And my brother, George Johnston, is an international math olympiad champion.

Meanwhile, I'm barely passing my math classes at school.

George gets so mad at me that he immediately writes down three full sets of math exam questions and exclaims, "You're so dumb that you're nothing but an embarrassment to Mom and Dad and me!

"Don't you even think about leaving the house and embarrassing us again without completing all these math questions!"

Mom then forces a few pills straight down my throat. Those pills are one of her inventions, called "smart pills". However, she doesn't care that I'm choking so hard on them that my eyes roll to the back of my head.

"Stop using excuses, saying that you're tired or sleepy. These pills will keep you up for 24 hours without sleep. That should be enough time for you to complete all those math problems!"

Dad then turns on "Strict Mode" on the smart house system, Domi.

He says to me, "And don't even think about escaping the house to look for help. I will lock the door and cut off every signal going in or coming out. If you don't finish your work in time, nobody will even care if you die here!"

After that, the three of them leave me behind and head off for their vacation in Hervaii. While shutting the door behind them, however, the vase of flowers full of water suddenly crashed into Domi's control panel.

I'm choking so hard on the pills that I feel asphyxiated. I keep banging my fists against the front door for help.

However, Domi, who has now short-circuited, keeps repeating, "Please complete your math questions, Gianna. Study hard and be a good student.

"Study hard and be a good student.

"Study hard and be a good student."

I grip the sheets of math problems in my hands in agony.

Will Mom, Dad, and George finally be happy when they see that I'm giving up my life for this?

The pills that Mom, Naomi Liddell, stuffed into my mouth wedged firmly in my throat and would not give. I couldn't even cough it up, let alone breathe or speak.

And the smart house system that Dad, Henry Johnston, built, had sealed the only escape route I had to call for help.

It didn't matter that I kept hammering my fists against the door until my bones fractured. The door still wouldn't open.

I could feel a huge boulder pressing down heavily against my chest. Soon, it got so heavy that I lost all strength and slid down the back of the door.

While I still had a sliver of consciousness left, I kept praying in my heart that Mom and Dad would save me.

"Mom, Dad, please come back and save me! I'm scared! I'm going to die… I don't want to die alone. Don't leave me alone!"

My hot tears ran down my cheeks and reached the corners of my mouth. However, the only reply I got was, "Study hard and be a good student…"

I was going to be a dead student soon.

I couldn't be a "good" student anymore.

I closed my eyes in despair. However, the smart speakers suddenly lit up at that moment, blasting Mom's voice all over the house.

"Gigi, have you started solving the problems yet?

"Hello? Hello? Why aren't you replying? Fine, then! You're still not done throwing a tantrum yet, are you?"

I shook my head in great agony.

"No, Mom! That wasn't the case at all! Think about it; I can't answer you because something terrible has happened to me! I'm about to die!" The thought screamed through my mind.

But Dad's cold voice sounded next.

"It doesn't matter. I've already programmed Domi to lock up the fridge and the kitchen if she doesn't complete the questions in time. She won't get a single bite to eat!

"That'll teach her to defy our orders! She needs to be taught a lesson!"

Tears kept rolling down my cheeks. The mirror showed my face turning bluish and purple. My complexion was also beginning to look ashen.

But I wasn't defying their orders!

I was trying to be good. I would complete the math questions if I could!

However, I heard George's voice next. He sounded very impatient. "Alright, alright. Hurry up and get in the car. Let's have as much fun in Hervaii without her. We'll make that stupid Gianna extremely jealous of us!"

The car door then slammed shut, and I heard nothing more after that.

The only sound I could hear was my heartbeat growing weaker and weaker by the second.

Finally, it gave out.

My heart felt like it had sunken beneath a frozen lake, never to be heard again.

…

When I opened my eyes again, I realized that I was at a bustling airport.

Mom and Dad were happily chatting with each other while George was gaming on his phone.

I used to ask him to play mobile games with me, but he would always shove me aside and tell me to practice solving more math questions. He told me that only smart people like him were allowed special permission to play mobile games.

But now, I could just simply float over to him and watch him play on his phone. He couldn't chase me away anymore.

George seemed to suddenly feel something and put his phone down. Then, he said in a condescending voice, "Gigi is so freaking stupid! I can't believe she barely passed Math. Do you think she'll be fine at home?"

Mom's smile dropped immediately.

"Why wouldn't she be fine? She'd just be throwing a tantrum at most! That brat just refuses to study and keeps causing trouble for everyone!"

She then bit her lip and said, "At most, I'll just bring home some Hervaii cookies or something of the sort for her. She likes rubbish food anyway. Henry, tell her that only good students get rewarded!"

However, the video that showed up on the screen was the last footage before the control panel had short-circuited—and I was scrunching up the math papers in my grip while still choking hard on the pills.

Dad lost his temper. "How dare she tear up the questions? That little brat is just itching to get punished! Did she think she could win against us?"

He then immediately gave more orders to the smart system. "Domi, change of plans. Gianna Johnston is not allowed a single bite of food or a drop of water for the next three days! If she's thirsty, tell her to drink from the toilet bowl instead!"

Mom was also enraged. "I can't believe that an internationally-acclaimed professor like you and a medical professor like me wasted so much time and effort on that ungrateful idiot for years! How dare she still be so lazy? My colleagues have been making fun of me because of her!"

I tried explaining myself to them, but George just asked Mom and Dad to stop talking.

"Why are you speaking so loudly? Everyone is staring at us. If anything, both of you should never have given birth to her. She's nothing but an embarrassment to our family. She should have died the moment she was born!"

At that moment, my fingers went right through Mom's and Dad's arms before dropping.

I looked at them nodding at George's words, agreeing with everything he said.

They said that they regretted giving birth to me.

I smiled bitterly and thought that it was a good thing I was dead after all. I wouldn't bring shame to them or humiliate them anymore.

Maybe now, Mom, Dad, and George would finally be happy.